A method and a device for controlling an internal combustion engine using at least two control units are known from German Patent No. 198 54 304. The system shown therein relates to an internal combustion engine having eight cylinders, four cylinders in each case being assigned to one bank and being acted upon by control signals from a control device, especially to control the fuel metering.
In such a system, a fuel injection and, thus, a firing, occur following a rotation of the crankshaft by 90°. As a rule, the injections or firings cannot always be evenly divided between the two control devices. For instance, it can be provided that a first control device controls the injection into the first, fourth, sixth and seventh cylinder, and a second control device controls the injection into the second, third, fifth and eighth cylinder.
In order to provide cost-effective control devices, it should be possible to use the control devices not only for internal combustion engines having four cylinders, but also for internal combustion engines having eight cylinders. This means that two control devices, which are normally used for four-cylinder internal combustion engines, are intended to be utilized in an eight-cylinder internal combustion engine. The control devices should differ from each other as little as possible, i.e., the same hardware of the control device and also the same software of the control device should be able to be used, regardless of whether four or eight cylinders are used.
Slight differences in the two control devices should merely be required in the area of the control data. The normal application data should be modified only slightly, if at all.